Top 10 Must-Read Stories for This Weekend

Updated 9/5/2025 9:00:00 AM

Arab Finance: September kicked off with key economic updates, topped by new agreements in Egypt’s mining sector and billion-dollar investments with Qatar.

Here’s the full list of the top 10 news of the first week of the month:

1-Madbouly announces activation of $7.5B Qatari direct investment package

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the activation of the Qatari direct investment package, estimated at $7.5 billion.

2-Egypt's net foreign assets hit EGP 900.54B end-July: CBE

The net foreign assets (NFAs) of Egypt’s banking sector hiked to EGP 900.545 billion at the end of July 2025, compared to EGP 644.764 billion in the same period a year earlier.

3-SCZONE signs $10.2B projects in 38 months

The General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) has signed 311 industrial, logistical, and service projects, with total investments amounting to $10.2 billion over the past 38 months, the authority’s Chairman Waleid Gamal El-Dien said.

4-Budget debt falls to 85.6% of GDP in June: Kouchouk

Preliminary indicators show a decline in debt of Egypt’s budget agencies to 85.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) in June 2025, from 89.4% in June 2024, Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk announced.

5-Egypt, Sudan explore cooperation in mining sector

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi and Sudanese Minister of Minerals Nour Al-Daim Taha explored avenues for cooperation in the mining and value-added industries.

6-FRA approves licensing 8 new real estate funds, financing companies

The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) granted approvals for eight companies to establish new real estate investment funds and licenses to operate in investment funds and non-banking financial activities.

7-EGAS signs $340M deals with 4 international companies to boost natural gas exploration

The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) signed four agreements to accelerate petroleum and natural gas exploration in the Mediterranean and Delta regions, with total investments of over $340 million.

8-Egypt signs 2 MoUs with UAE's IRH Global Trading to strengthen mining sector

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi witnessed the signing of two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in the fields of mining and financing between the Egyptian petroleum and mineral resources sector and the Emirati company International Resources Holding (IRH).

9-Intella secures $12.5M funding round to scale operations in MENA

Intella, the market leader in dialectal Arabic speech intelligence, has closed a $12.5 million oversubscribed Series A round led by Prosus, bringing its total funding to $16.9 million.

10-China Energy Engineering Corporation plans to invest $1B in Egypt over 5 years

China Energy Engineering Corporation is seeking to invest $1 billion in Egypt over the next five years, according to a statement.